Review

This is AFI's first proper studio album and many of the 'real' punk fans consider this their best. I'm not into punk that much and in my opinion, this album doesn't even come close to 'Black Sails in the Sunset', 'The Art of Drowning' or 'Sing the Sorrow'. But, considering I'm a big AFI fan, I saw this in an independent music store in Holland and had to pick it up as AFI albums are difficult to find there.

The songs off this album are very fast, with the same, fast 'boom-ba-boomboom-ba' drumbeat in pretty much every song. The lyrics aren't anywhere near as good as the ones Davey writes nowadays. For fans who have just gotten into AFI through their newest album 'Sing the Sorrow' this won't be the album for you yet, I advise to work your way backwards through the albums because otherwise the change will be too big.

The album starts off with 'two of a kind' which is a good representative song of what is to come: fast drumming, loud guitars and yelly vocals. Yurf Rendenmein is one of the better songs off the album with a pretty good ending that is Davey shouting 'I can't see you, I can't see though!' accompanied by the backing vocals. I wanna mohawk, but mom won't let me get one is by many considered one of their favorite 'old school' songs, but I really don't like this song. It's just over 1 minute and is quite catchy, but the lyrics kind of throw me off.

Brownie Bottom Sundae is probably the best song off this record. it starts off with a simple bass drumbeat, then a nice bassline comes in. Adam then does a snare roll and a short guitar solo starts. The whole song is extremely catchy and after the second chorus the song slows down again until Davey shouts 'I got to go!' where another solo ends the song.

Cereal wars is another fast, immature song with funny lyrics like: 'I hope sexual chocolate is in stock, it's got a condom in the box. I'll try some coco pops today, who the f*ck is Sonny anyway?'

Open your eyes is a covered from the Circus Tents and is actually pretty good, with some guest vocals. Don't make me ill is probably after Brownie Bottom Sundae the best song. It starts off with 3 people fighting and after one of them says 'Answer that and stay fashionable' the song starts. Even the verse is catchy. The chorus is a bit boring where the band just repeats 'No-one'. The breakdown and the ending is amazing, it always puts a smile on my face.

High School Football Hero is probably the catchiest song off this album. Everything about it seems catchy, from the bassline to the background 'Hey!'s.

PROS:
- All the songs are fast and catchy. There are no skippable tracks. I like the backing vocals too.

CONS:
- Lyrics are quite immature/weak, drumming sounds the same in most songs.

Yes, Adam and Davey are the only remaining members in the band, since this cd.
Anyways, I think this cd is very good, and its hard for me to choose between StS and this, but this is more "punk" type sounding music. The drumming in "punk" music is almost always that same beat, so thats nothing new, and not worthy of being a flaw.

[QUOTE=sr800bkBassist]are any of those members besides davey still in the band?[/QUOTE]

Well, afi became a real band when they released Black Sails In The Sunset and All Hallows EP. Before that, only Davey and Adam were the band. They "stole" Hunter from an other band and Mark wasn't exactly in the band. He mostly helped them out (since they had no guitarist)

[QUOTE=razielbalck]Well, afi became a real band when they released Black Sails In The Sunset and All Hallows EP. Before that, only Davey and Adam were the band. They "stole" Hunter from an other band and Mark wasn't exactly in the band. He mostly helped them out (since they had no guitarist)[/QUOTE]

How were they not a 'real' band when they released this album? They did not 'steal' Hunter from another band, he was ex-The Force when he joined them. Mark was in the band, he wasn't as committed as the other band members though, that's why Jade Puget joined them before BSITS.

Just for the record....Hunter played bass as a guest on all the songs on Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes, but he became an 'official' member for Black Sails. Jade's first album with AFI was Black Sails. However, I'm pretty sure both played on the A Fire Inside EP too, which came out before Black Sails.

Oh and Mark's surname is Stopholese.

I like this album a lot, even more than Very proud of Ya (that has too many songs in my opinion). And good call on Brownie Bottom Sundae, definitely the best song on this album and one of my favourites.

Oh, and Davey's real surname is Marchand.[/QUOTE]
Huh, I never knew that...
Yeah, I thought Sep's review was pretty good. Brownie Bottom Sundae, Your Name Here, and Don't Make Me Ill are definitely some of the best songs on Answer That. However, my personal favorite is Rizzo in the Box, which hasn't been mentioned here. I like how it's funny and serious at the same time. I also like Open Your Eyes, and I want to hear the original version but I don't know where to find it.
About old AFI vs. new AFI, I like the newer stuff better, especially Black Sails in the Sunset. I can't figure out who I like better on the bass though- Geoff or Hunter.

They are both very accomplished. It's more of a preference question. I personally like Hunter better because his bass as far as tone and style is heavier and deeper than Kresge's. Geoff style focuses more around speed than anything.

[QUOTE=_ThisSecretNinja_]His Italian surname is Passaro. I'm guessing that was his original surname, and he took Marchand off his step father after his real dad died.[/QUOTE]
I swear you must be Adam or something because you don't post much, but when AFI is brought up, you dish out some serious AFI knowledge.